Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-10-08
LADIES OF THE HAREM.
lame LIFE SCARCELY EXISTS FOR
THE MOHAMMEDAN.

aomE LIFE SCARCELY EXISTS FOR
THE MoHAMMEDAN.
. Theory the Moslem Glasses His Hsrem
9TH Meoca's Holy OF Holes Social
ru..oms in Various Countries Of the
East
r. theory the Moslem classes his women
,,.d With the Holy of Holes at Mecca Tho
.Iusrn,ost Shrine of his temple and the rooms
I'll lat,iced windows are both called bv the
'.ne name of harem or sacred. The apart.
ssent is hareln, and the ladies who live In il
.ra harem for all but the lord and master.
"a may enter at will, but generally an.
lounges his coming beforehand, SO that he
nav not run the risk Of meeting female visi-
to-s. who are probably the wives of his
sr;snds. In we'll regulated houses the hus.
hsnd intrudes only at fixed hours, perhaps for
. short time after midday prayer, and does
mt else favor his : ?reM till he retires to rest
Tome life such -. "r understand it can
LARGELY be said ;,.-.-.. or the Mohamme-
dan. The man lives in and at his work out
eide and the woman among her slaves and
frl2nuS IA ~ hoiSAAs
In many respects the harems of CONSTANT.
NOBLE are allowed greater liberty than those
ofEgypt and Persia. The ladies of Stam-
boul are much addicted to walking, whereas
those OF Cairo are never seen in the streets on
foot. At the Sweet Waters the harems stray
over the meadows or picnic on the banks Of
the Kiaght Khaneh stream. with the fresh
air blowing round them. The Egyptian
danes, however, can never stir except in
their carriages, and can only view the world
and their neighbors from the windows Of q
brougham. The Bezetan Of STEAMBOAT Is
daily IGNORED by great ladies, who also think
no evil OF riding in the public tramcars be-
tween Galata and Pera; hut an Egyptian
barem who attempted to mix with the crowd
In such promiscuous fashion would be
promptly banned. In other ways, however,
especially since the days OF Ismail Paslia, tho
barem of Cairo has opened its eyes consider.
ably to what goes OIL beyond its proper ken.
The wives and families Of foreign residents
and travellers put down the various high
barems OH their visiting lists, and the BIZ
weekly promenades on the Shoobra and Gezi-
reh avenues give the yelled ones an oppor.
unity of seeing in the flesh the personages of
whom hlcJ w PSApSeuo1Iy AV01A lux SIOl ICE
and anecdotes. 1t also gives the men q chance
Of having this and that khanem pointed out
to them as they whirl past in their neat little
carriages till each gets to know the other by
sipbt at least tolerably well. The opera and
the afternoon promenade are the chief excite.
ment of Egyptian harem life. The Cairo
opera house, built by the late khedive in q
style commensurate with the lavish disregard
of expense which marked his reign, is fitted
with a dozen boxes on the second tier, whose
fronts are frapnad with a gauzy screen ena-
blingthe occupants to watch the play and the
house, and supposed to prevent the house
from watching them. The sparkling Of bright !
ewes and diamonds are nevertheless apt to |
attract discreet attention, and a powerful
glass nearly annihilates the. screen, SO that
the beauties in reality come not only to see,
but to be seen, like their western sisters
round them. A separate entrance leads up !
to the harem boxes, and after the fall Of the
curtain the harem don their habarahs and |
steal out to their carriages by a back way, !
where it is whispered that many a note and
bonbonniere await them on their passage.
The afternoon drive is also an imaginary
contact with the world, though, as a matter |
of fact, tho ladies might almost as well be at
home. At 4 o'clock or Whereabouts, q natty
little brougham, drawn by a pair Of long
tailed Russian horses, drives up to the door
and the ladies, for they almost invariably
drive two and two-a great lady accom-
panied by a friend Or q slave girl-are az.
slsted into the carriage with as much care az
II they were made Of snow. The more
scrupulous ones will wen hold q para.
col between their faces and the coachman to
prevent contamination from side glances.
Most of them, however, start with full intent
to be seen as much as possible, and after set
ting themselves down on the satin cushions
and assuring themselves that the mirror il
well busted, the cigarettes and matches in
their places, the chocolate creams or nougat
fresh from the bakery, and the bouquet sweet
and properly arranged, slip of the habarah
md are ready to front the gaze Of the curl
JUS. The thinnest of yasbmaks covers the
eldest of lips, and the chin and well kohled
yes keep a smart look out for exchange Of
ompliments with passers by.
The wives of the pashas do not wear tho
turkish transparent yashmak, but cover
beir mouths and the lower part of the face
nth a cambria or cotton burghoo tied round
back of the head. The Shoobra and
Iezirch drives are to Cairo much what tho
Tow is to London, and all the young beys
nd pashas don their best, and either ~caracole
on their prancing steeds. or, moro
uxuriously, are driven in the train Of the
If the lady is inclined to exchange
notes, cigarettes, or even converse
ion, no hindrance is likely to he offered by
be black %janitor ON tue box seat Of the driver.
SUIT talking must be done i'll private, and some
ide walk or otherwise secluded spot must be
hosen for anything more than a flying pass
ng compliment. For in the east every man
the guardian, not only Of his own harem,
nut also of everybody else's. A man may
hrash his own wife to death, with very doubt
III chances of anybody intervening, but he
nay not look ct his neighbours harem.-Home
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